Trip to Ybor

Yesterday morning, we finished moving everything out of the Suncruiser and managed to find a place for it all in Phiona.  Good thing we went for 40ft.  We would not have fit in the 36'- no way. That Suncruiser has good storage space. About 11:00, we "hit a wall."  I suggested we visit one of our favorite haunts for a break.

 The Green Iguana bar and grill in Ybor (pronounced eebor) City.  We actually started patronizing it at its original location which was - well... scary. It is a biker bar, in a shack and it was very dark on the inside.

Now, they are mainstream with a big bar and located in Ybor, which is now a hub for nightlife in Tampa.  They have music on Saturday afternoon and we got there just in time for the show. The guy was pretty good but the music is not the reason we come here. 

We come here for the burgers! Best burger in Tampa Bay!

They were every bit as good as we remembered.  After lunch, we needed a walk.  So, here is a little tour of Ybor City.
Ybor was founded in the late 1800's.  It is where most of the cigar factories in Tampa were located. It was populated by immigrants  mostly from Spain, Cuba and Italy who came to roll cigars. The Italian club.....

There is now a street car that runs between Ybor and downtown Tampa.  It is really nice for visitors.  They were just wrapping up a farmer's market in the park as we were walking by.  We might catch that next weekend.

Part of Ybor is a actually a state park. This is the history museum.  It is a great place to visit and learn about the area and the cigar industry.  It is located in an old bakery.  You can see the ovens where the "Cuban bread" was baked.

This is one of the homes they have on display to show how the typical factory worker lived.  They are shotgun style houses that allow a breeze to run all the way from the front to the back, when the doors are opened-no AC in those days.

They give very nice tours of the homes.  One of the details I love, is the nail by the door.  It is hard to see in this picture but every house had a nail by the door.  That nail was were the bakery delivery hung the Cuban bread every morning.

The most famous restaurant in Ybor is the Columbia.
It has been open since 1905.  They have several locations now, but this is the original.

That is the tour of Ybor - it is one of our favorite areas and we highly recommend a visit.

After lunch and our walk, we decided to visit another of our favorite spots. We stocked up on vino and had a nice veggie roast and a new Chianti for dinner - it was very good.  

We had a little excitement right after our dinner.  We looked up and this huge American Eagle was backing up  right at us.  Catherine was trying to honk (need to learn how those air horns work) and I jumped out of the coach. Lucky for us, the girls across the way honked and got the guy's attention just before he gave Phiona a big black eye.  He had never driven a motor home before. It appears he just bought this one.  I am not sure how he ended up with the keys, wheeling it around Lazydays with no supervision but you can bet I am going to find out today....See you down the road